Books, Book Chapters and Manuscripts in KU ScholarWorks

KU ScholarWorks (KUSW) is the institutional repository of the University of Kansas. It contains scholarly work produced by KU faculty, staff, and students, as well as departmental research publications. 

Many faculty members and departments publish books and book chapters that can be added to ScholarWorks.  These reflect the rich variety and proud scholarly traditions of KU research. ScholarWorks makes these works available to a worldwide audience, increasing their visibility and impact and ensuring their long-term preservation. 

If you are interested finding out more about how to share your books, book chapters, and manuscripts in ScholarWorks, please contact Marianne Reed, Digital Publishing & Repository Manager at mreed@ku.edu.

Eligibility

These requirements apply to all books, book chapters, and unpublished manuscripts.  

  1. The requestor must hold the rights to share the work(s) in ScholarWorks, or have received permission from the copyright holder to do so.  If it is not clear who owns the copyrights for the material, the author will need to ask permission from the editor or publisher to share the book in ScholarWorks.

    Here is a link to text that you can adapt to request permission:

    Request permission to share the published version of a book or book chapter (Microsoft Word document)
  2. All materials must be able to be shared openly, so that anyone in the world can read them.  Materials that need to be restricted to a certain audience are not suitable for ScholarWorks.
  3. The material must be provided in digital form, preferably accessible PDFs.  Materials that are only available in paper form may not be accepted for ScholarWorks. If there are only a few items in paper form, we can assist by digitizing the materials, but our capacity to do this is limited.  Authors or departments with large inventories of books that are available only in paper form are encouraged to work with a vendor to digitize the materials so that they can be added to ScholarWorks.

Eligibility for Books:

  1. If a KU department holds the copyright for the books, they can share them in ScholarWorks. If they wish to do so, the department can also choose a Creative Commons license that lets the readers know how the work can be used without asking the department for permission.
  2. If a book was published commercially, it can be shared in ScholarWorks only if the author retained rights to do so OR if the copyrights have reverted back to the author.  This generally happens several years after publication.   If it is not clear who holds the copyrights, the author can ask permission from the publisher to share the book in ScholarWorks.   

Eligibility for Book chapters: 

  1. Sometimes authors of a book chapter hold the copyright in their chapter.  In that case, they can share it in ScholarWorks.  If they do not, or are not sure, they need to ask permission from the copyright holder.
  2. Publishers are often more flexible about sharing book chapters than they are about sharing books, since chapters are a smaller percentage of the book.
  3. We encourage authors asking permission to point out that having a chapter publicly available may whet the reader's appetite to read the rest of the book.  The ScholarWorks record for a book chapter will always have a link to the published version of the book, so that readers that are interested can easily find and purchase the entire book.
  4. If the book chapter is only available in paper form, please provide a copy of the book to us and we will have the chapter scanned for ScholarWorks, then return the book.

Eligibility for Manuscripts

  1. Authors of unpublished manuscripts generally hold the copyrights and may share them in KU ScholarWorks.
  2. If the manuscript is only available in paper form, please provide a copy and we will have the manuscript scanned for ScholarWorks, then return the manuscript. 

Adding Books, Book Chapters and Manuscripts to ScholarWorks

We have services to help KU scholars and departments deposit books and book chapters in ScholarWorks. 

  1. The author or department that wants to share books in KU ScholarWorks will start the process by contacting Marianne Reed, Digital Publishing& Repository Manager at mreed@ku.edu to let her know that they want to share these works in ScholarWorks.
  2. ScholarWorks staff will then work with the author to determine the copyright status for the materials and whether they are allowed to be shared in ScholarWorks.   If the copyright status is unclear, the department will need to ask the publisher for permission to share the materials in their institutional repository.
  3. If the materials can be shared, the author and department will provide the digital files in PDF format as well as information about each file--author, title, publisher, publication date, abstracts, and 3-5 keywords, if applicable.  If authors have ORCIDs, those should be provided.  Information for one or two volumes can be sent in an email message.  Information for three or more should be sent in a spreadsheet. 
  4. In order to make this process as easy for you as possible, we will add the materials to ScholarWorks for you and send you the permanent links to the materials.  These URLs will never change and can be used whenever you cite the books or book chapters series. 
  5. Most authors and departments choose to put these permanent links to the materials on their web pages for easy access. 

Visibility

  • Permanent Links:  All items in KU ScholarWorks are assigned URLs that will never change and can be used whenever the work is cited.  These URLs are often used to link to the resources in ScholarWorks from departmental, research group, or faculty web pages. 
  • Google and Google Scholar: The developers of DSpace--the software package behind KU ScholarWorks--have worked closely with Google to ensure that the works in those systems are easily found by Google and Google Scholar.
  • ORCIDs:  KU ScholarWorks supports the use of Open Researcher and Contributor IDs (ORCIDs). An ORCID gives each researcher a unique identifier that supports connections between the author and their work.  Researcher identifiers like ORCIDs are used by many systems in the research ecosystem, including many granting agencies, where ORCIDs are used by applicants to automatically populate lists of publications.  

Resources from KU Libraries

Find out more about KU ScholarWorks, its policies, and the types of materials you can deposit:

Did you know that KU Libraries also publishes books and journals edited by KU researchers?  These resources can help you learn more about publishing with KU Libraries:

Looking for help with your research data and aren't sure where to go?  

Do you receive Federal funding for your research?  Here is a guide to the research sharing policies from Federal agencies that must be in place 12/31/2025:



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